Passchendaele
by x.lithium
Summary: TezukaFuji; Tezuka is ruby throated hummingbirds and Stonehenge, brilliant and immovable and delicate and merciless because in war, there is no place for broken hearts.


If Prince of Tennis were mine candles would freeze instead of burn.  
This is Alternate Universe! Why? Cause I'm currently forced by the Ontario government to take grade ten history. It's a rather tolerable course actually. And I realize that Stonehenge probably wasn't noted during WWI, but let's pretend, kay?  
And to the anonymous reviewer **DUDE WHOA**, I had to reply to your review for _Valentine _because it made me smile but you didn't leave an email for me to reply so maybe you're reading this fic, ;D. I'm glad you enjoyed the fic and I'm happy you love it so much. I'm a happy author when I get told that my writing brought out heart-wrenching emotions in a reader, ;). Thanks so much for reviewing, love.

**PASSCHENDAELE  
x.**lithium**x.**lithium**x.**lithium**; **

_"Flap your wings now you can't stay.  
Butterfly Fly Away - Miley Cyrus feat. Billy Ray Cyrus;_

Tezuka is ruby throated hummingbirds and Stonehenge; brilliant and immovable and delicate and merciless because in war there is no place for breaking hearts. Echizen knows, because somewhere in the ground, Inui, Taka, and Momoshiro lie, unrecognizable and broken and everything that hadn't been intended for them. And at Eiji's trembling knees lies Oishi, blood spilt for all to see. Eiji shakes but does not cry, because this is war.

This is Passchendaele.

It is bombs that miss by far too little and looking through your scope into the eyes of the man you are about to destroy and Eiji's sunken eyes and Echizen's own tired ones and Tezuka's fierce ones. Battle isn't fluttering wings and poetic ironies and willow trees that take his breath away. This is Passchendaele. To survive it is like dying, Echizen thinks, like wrapping diamond dusted threads around his throat and pulling, pulling, pulling _until he can't breathe_.

On the whole, the Germans have lost Passchendaele, but this tiny section of it is littered with more soldiers that are not German because Tezuka never loses. Tezuka barks German at his few remaining soldiers. Their captain's voice makes the soldiers strong, makes Echizen strong because Tezuka is the brightest part of the darkest shadows.

Tezuka is too far away from the rest of the soldiers when the ground shifts with movement and the first thought in Echizen's mind is _no not Tezuka _because Tezuka is everything they need to keep staggering through trenches and the corpses of dreams that will now remain unfulfilled.

The enemy soldier is unarmed and his lips are cracked and his hair is tousled but Echizen blinks because this boy is ruby throated hummingbirds and Stonehenge too, and his glittering ice eyes are fierce. The soldier blinks and Echizen thinks fluttering wings and Karupin's silent pounce onto his back. The soldier is like a fairytale; storybooks and princes and glass slippers that aren't stained red, red, red like the world is.

But this is Passchendaele and Echizen is drowning in red and Tezuka's gun is ready. The air is still fireskin and dust, wilted flowers. In Flanders Fields today, poppies are redder than they should be, drinking in the soldiers' death. Guns and bombs and broken eyes steal away whatever beauty still exists.

The soldier tilts his head, red-brown peeking out behind steel helmet. "You have the loveliest russet eyes, German soldier." But Tezuka's gun is kissing the fairytale soldier's temple, and Echizen decides that their world deserves more happily ever afters.

And wonders why Tezuka doesn't shoot. This is Passchendaele, and there is no place for fairtytales, fluttering wings, or passion.

**x.**lithium**x.**lithium**x.**lithium**; **

I swear to God next update I'll get back to my usual style. _Valentine _and this story aren't exactly my usual writings and I don't think readers like this style as much, but it's amusing to write! ;D. And I chose Passchendaele because, let's just admit it, it's an awesome name.  
Lithium;


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